Retired U.S. Lt. Col. Ronald H. Lache Passes Away Last Monday

Colin Hart
Staff Writer

SPRINGFIELD— Retired U.S. Lt. Col. Ronald H. Lache died Monday of lung cancer at his home in Springfield. He was 68.

He had been living on his own with the help of his son, who resides in Springfield, since his wife, the late Delores Carney, died March 7 of this year.

Before moving to Springfield five years ago, Lache was an active and influential part of the community in Dayton, Ohio. As a member of the Newman Center and the Rock Bridge Lions Club, he directed several successful community initiatives. One of those initiatives, a successful fundraiser to help revamp one of the city’s oldest parks, raised more than $100,000.

“He was a great man,” said fellow club member John Doughty. “He was always trying to figure out new ways to help the community. Every meeting, he would propose a new program. They almost always were wildly successful, though it wouldn’t have mattered if they weren’t, because he never gave up.”

Lache continued his community service after moving to Springfield, even after his wife passed away.

When Lache was 18 years old and fresh out of high school, he joined the U.S. Air Force. He never saw combat but his fellow pilots and those who served under him said they would have trusted him with their lives.

As a fellow officer, Lt. Col. Don Brink, recalled, “I remember one day after training when I was pretty down and feeling like I wasn’t going to make it. Ron came up to me, looked me in the eye, and said, ‘Brink, you will get this. You wouldn’t have made it as far as you have if you couldn’t do it.’ I know that doesn’t sound particularly inspiring, but there was always something about Ron. He just had this light in his eyes when he looked at you. You just knew he believed in you and would do anything he could for you.”

Lache loved using the stories of his time in the Air Force to help raise awareness of local issues. At a city council meeting during a discussion of orphan awareness, he told them about a young boy he met while walking through Seoul, South Korea. Lache was stationed there after the armistice was signed in July 1953. The boy, 10-year-old Sun Kyeong Kim, had just lost his whole family in the war.

Lache found a family who would take the boy in near where he was stationed. “He was like an uncle to me,” said Kim. “He helped me attend a college here in America. I always knew his home was open to me. I could never repay him for how he helped me. He wouldn’t have let me even if I could. That’s just who he was.”

After retiring from the Air Force, Lache married Delores Carney and together they had one son and three daughters. He raised his children with community spirit in mind. All became leaders at their colleges and in their communities.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today nor would I be doing what I’m doing today if it wasn’t for my father,” said daughter Cynthia Lache of San Mateo, Calif. She and Kim are co-founders of a global communications firm focused on conflict resolution between Israel and Pakistan.

A second daughter, Barbara Ann Peck, said, “Daddy would have loved to see what Cynthia and Sun are doing now. Despite being a military officer, he always believed that people could solve conflicts in a peaceful way. He would have been so proud to see where we are now.” Peck founded and runs a shelter program in Dayton, Ohio, that has helped reduce the homelessness rate in Dayton by 50%.

Lache is survived by his mother, Thelma Lache, of Springfield; his son, Ronald Lache, also of Springfield; three daughters, Barbara Ann Peck of Dayton, Ohio; Patrice Louis Wylie of Indianapolis, Ind.; and Cynthia Lache of San Mateo, Calif.; and one granddaughter, Jennifer C. Peck of Springfield.

Services will be held in Springfield. Visitation will be held Wednesday, 7 p.m., at Parker Funeral Services, 606 Washington Ave. A graveside service will be held Friday, 2 p.m., at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.

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Sidebar stories:

• Organization Attempts to Solve Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: click here
• Dayton, Ohios' Rate of Homelessness Plummets: click here

School Board Candidates Debate Restructuring of School System

Colin Hart
Staff Writer


LENOIR, NC — Senior citizens in Lenoir School District worry that a proposal for year-round schooling might hit them in the pocketbook.

School board candidates took opposing stands on the proposal at the Lenoir center Tuesday night.

Some believe the plan for a 12-month school schedule could eliminate the need for trailers that now house the overflow of students. Candidate Henry Lane argued that year-round schooling would help decrease overcrowding and would reduce daily student attendance by 25 percent.

Candidate and Board President Elton Fay argued that the new schedule would be costlier than adding permanent buildings. Paying faculty and utilities year-round would cost more than putting up new buildings.

“What Mr. Lane fails to tell you is that if we are to avoid erecting additional buildings, to save on construction costs, the cost of educating our children would go up substantially.”

Fay added that the plan would put schools on different schedules. And no one in the community, he says, wants the schools to be on different schedules.

Incumbent Kerry Corino put the argument into perspective saying that the battle between a growing population and cost of education is a difficult one.

Corino stated that it wasn’t fair to compare private schools to public schools after comments about private education doing a better job at maintaining the balance.

“Private schools can pick who they want; public schools cannot…”

Another important issue discussed was problems of teacher unionization.

Responding to one senior’s question, Fay said teachers cannot, by law, bargain collectively. Corino added to Fay’s statement saying, “The teachers are anti-union. That tells you a lot of things about how this city operates.”

Audio courtesy of Colin Hart.

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Further Reading exploring Lenoir School District:

Lenoir School District: click here

Profile of Lenoir County Public Schools: click here

Reader responses welcome!

Gunman Robs Local Liquor Store

Colin Hart
Staff Writer

SPRINGFIELD—A gunman with a pillowcase over his head pointed a pistol at a clerk and then fled down an alley with $2,845 seconds before the police arrived at the Black Derby Liquor Store at 2311 Ripley Way on April 26th.

A man with a pillowcase over his head entered the store at 7:12 p.m. He pulled out a pistol and demanded that the clerk, Steve Bellinos age 28, empty the contents of the cash register into another pillowcase.

Bellinos, realizing what was happening, was able to trigger a silent alarm within minutes of the robber entering the store, police said.

Police Officers Anne Fulgham and Jose Lopez answered the alarm and arrived at the store at 7:19 p.m. as the gunman was exiting.

When the man saw the police car he started to run, police said, Officer Fulgham acted quickly, shouting a warning and firing a shot at the man. The shot missed, and the man ran down an alley, escaping.

A witness, John Reinicke, 35, was walking down Ripley Way when the incident occurred. “The officers did a great job,” he said. “The guy ran so fast he looked like a track star.”

The Police Internal Security Squad will make a routine investigation of the incident, according to Police Chief Antonio Grasso. Grasso said that such investigations are conducted each time an officer fires a service revolver.

The clerk described the robber as about 6 feet tall and weighing 155 pounds. He was wearing blue jeans and a dirty white T-shirt with a torn right sleeve. Those with any information about the suspect are asked to call the Springfield Police Department or local authorities.

Audio courtesy of Colin Hart

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Sidebar stories:

• Upsurge in Gun Related Crimes in Springfield: click here

Are you worried about a rising crime rates? Comment below.